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Visa costs for foreign ski instructors will be a significant burden for Alberta ski resorts adapting to stricter rules for hiring temporary foreign workers, industry members say. Employment Minister Jason Kenney announced tougher rules for temporary foreign workers earlier this year after abuses of the program in the hospitality sector were revealed.

CALGARY - Investment in Canada’s hotel market in 2013 was one of the strongest annual performances in a decade with a healthy showing from Alberta. The 2014 Canadian Hotel Investment Report, by Colliers International Hotels, said buoyed markets, easy access to capital, investor optimism and demand for hotel properties propelled deal activity by 72 percent year-over-year as 115 transactions were recorded in Canada, surpassing $2 billion in volume, which was significantly higher than the $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion in deal volume recorded for 2012 and 2011 respectively.

CALGARY - The overhaul of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will be an “unnecessary burden” and a “severe cost” to the country’s lodging industry, leading to a reduction of service, limited hours of operation and closures, says the Hotel Association of Canada. Tony Pollard, president of the association, said about 5,000 individuals in Alberta in the hotel business are utilizing the program and another 5,000 are spread across the country.

After pulling funding from Tourism Calgary one year ago, the Calgary Hotel Association is set to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding that will start dollars flowing toward the marketing association once again. Details of the new funding agreement are not yet available, but both partners confirmed Monday that a deal is imminent.

Calgary is becoming a magnet these days for hotel operators - particularly unique and different brands on the market. The latest addition is Aloft Calgary University, which will open its doors April 24 along Motel Village on Banff Trail N.W.

CALGARY - Annual revenue in Alberta’s accommodation industry reached a record level in 2012, according to Statistics Canada. Data released Tuesday by the federal agency indicated hotel operators in the province saw revenue of $3.8 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 2011. It includes all hotels, motels, bed and breakfast operations, lodges and all other forms of accommodation.

CALGARY — A 360-room Residence Inn by Marriott and SilverBirch Conference Centre is planned for Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood at the former site of the Alberta Boot Company. SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts will develop the project at the corner of 10th Avenue and 5th Street S.W.

A Calgary hotel refunded more than $7,000 it was accused of overcharging to guests as the flood crisis forced thousands of Albertans to evacuate their homes, Service Alberta Minister Manmeet Bhullar said Thursday. It’s one of the more glaring cases of bad business practices the government has discovered through complaints and even some door-to-door sweeps in flood-affected neighbourhoods.

CALGARY — The Calgary Hotel Association has decided to pull its annual $2.5 million funding for Tourism Calgary and reallocate the money to other partnerships, the Herald has learned. “We made the decision to reallocate our funding to partners that we believe can drive some really good results to our members,” said Leanne Shaw-Brotherston, president of the association, which has 63 members, 42 of them voluntarily contribute to the destination marketing fund.

Resource markets in the West, including Alberta, continued to buoy the overall hotel investment market in Canada in 2012 as transactions across the country reached nearly $1.2 billion, one of the highest levels in the past decade. According to the 2013 Canadian Hotel Investment report released Wednesday by Colliers International Hotels, the overall deal activity in Canada during the past year surpassed the $1.1 billion recorded in 2011.

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